I suppose I'll start with Easter Sunday. I went with my hosts' son, Marc, to an Arsenal football game. They played a home game against Manchester City in London. Now, I'm not really a huge fan of football/soccer, but I am always up for going to a live sporting event. I am so glad I ended up going, because it truly was one of the highlights of my stay. The atmosphere and the energy of the crowd was amazing! I loved all of the chants and the songs, which we do have in the States but it was just sung with so much more passion. It's really difficult to describe, and I'll certainly never do the experience justice, so I'll stop trying and just say it was a blast!
A few days later I went to London with my hostess. We did the open-top bus tour around the city and saw Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey (which charges to get in...lame), the London Eye, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. We also stopped at Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. I didn't realize what a huge spectacle it would be, with the guards marching in while a band plays. It was quite entertaining and there were loads of people there watching. The fountain across from the palace was full of people for that, so I can only imagine what it would have looked like on Kate and William's wedding day. Amazing.
After our tour, we stopped at the famous Fortnum and Mason's, where the Queen gets her tea. I guess the Queen and Kate were just there last month to sample some of the special Diamond Jubilee cakes, coffees, and teas they are selling. Afterwards, we walked to Piccadilly Circus where I did a little souvenir shopping and then continued onto the British Museum. The museum was huge and I literally could have spent an entire day there, but we only had a little while so I settled on finding the Rosetta Stone and wandering around the ground floor for a bit. Once we finished, we walked across the street to the Museum Tavern and had a beer. I had it on good authority that the pub, which opened in the early-to-mid 1700s, was a hangout of Karl Marx and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Not only does that make it cool, but the fact that it is older than the establishment of the United States of American makes it a pretty bad-ass place to have a drink!
That pretty much sums up my fantastic day in London. My next big adventure was last weekend's trip to Paris. I went with Marc's wife Helena, and we left early Saturday morning and came back late Sunday night. We had a short amount of time to spend in the city, but we managed to pack quite a bit into the time we had. We went to the Louvre, where I saw the Mona Lisa. I was quite surprised at its small size, because with it's larger-than-life reputation, it just feels like it should be enormous; it's not. You may be surprised to know that my favorite part of the museum was actually not any of the thousands of art pieces on display. It was actually the ceilings of each of the rooms. Beautiful friezes covered every inch of the ceiling and while I'm sure I looked funny craning my neck to look at each one, I was completely awed.
After the Louvre, we walked forever and ever along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. We could see the top of the tower for most of our walk, but it more or less sprung out at us as we walked through an alley and were all of a sudden at its base. It's just as impressive as I imagined it would be, and although I did not ride the elevator up to the top, I was overjoyed to finally be able to see this iconic tower in person.
After the Eiffel Tower, we took the Metro back to our hotel and got ready for dinner. We were told that we would find good restaurants, shops, and a beautiful view in Sacre Coeur so we took the Metro to the nearest stop and braved the hilly cobblestone streets in our heels. Many curses and blisters later, we made it to the basilique at the top of the hill. The view was worth the pain and the effort, as was the lovely restaurant we ended up in for dinner. This small area ended up being my favorite part of Paris, with the tiny shops, quirky street vendors, and bustling streets. It's the first place I'll head to when I return.
The next day, we got up and rode the RER into Versailles. We took a tour of the palace and saw the Hall of Mirrors and Marie Antoinette's bedroom, which was indescribably beautiful. It was incredibly crowded though, and I felt like I was part of a herd of cattle being pushed and shoved from one room to the next. If I ever went back, it would be on a Tuesday or Thursday instead of the weekend.
So, that's what I've been up to over the last few weeks, or at least the big things anyway. I've returned to school after our two week Easter holiday, and had a great week with the kids. I spent some time in the 5th grade classrooms this week, as well, so that was interesting. Next week we go on a field trip to Chichester Cathedral Monday and then on Tuesday I go with Helena to the Harry Potter studio tour. Then, I only have a few days left until I'm homeward bound. A large part of me is sad to have all of this come to an end, but I'm really excited at the thought of getting home to Aaron, my friends, and family. The thought of getting back to my regular daily routine sounds nice, as well, though I don't relish the thought of the job hunt I'll need to go on once I return. That's never fun!
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